How much longer must we endure Angry Birds? It’s a phenomenal casual game, but at some point you wonder when iOS and Android gaming is going to advance. Even hardware-pushing titles like Infinity Blade 2, Grand Theft Auto III, and 9mm fall short of console gaming. Until mobile devices narrow that gap, we have a clever workaround from OnLive. The cloud gaming service now lets you play high-end PC and console games right on your iPad or Galaxy Tab.

This is the same OnLive we have seen on PCs: your control a game being played on servers, and the video feed is streamed back to you. Top titles are available, including Batman: Arkham City, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and LA Noire. OnLive supports most high-end Android devices and the iPad.

The biggest problem is bandwidth: you’re going to need a lot of it. Don’t expect to play LA Noire over your iPhone’s 3G connection; it will stutter and lag like a YouTube video over dial-up. Many home WiFi networks will suffer too. While low-end laptops can stream smoothly using an ethernet connection, there’s no such luck in mobile.

Controls are another obstacle. At launch, few games are optimized for touch-screen controls. Others will leave you with a display littered with semi-transparent buttons. OnLive’s solution is a Bluetooth controller (right), but it costs $50.

Problems aside, OnLive can change mobile gaming. Those with speedy WiFi who don’t mind buying the controller can catch a glimpse of the future. Within the next few years, smartphone and tablet gaming will be much more console-like. Mobile devices’ CPUs and GPUs are updated every year, but consoles only get upgraded every ten years; it’s inevitable that the chasm will shrink.

When that happens — whether it’s with Apple’s A8 chip or Nvidia’s Tegra 5 — onboard gaming will win. Controls will be smoother and you won’t need a speedy internet connection. But until that day comes, OnLive is giving us one hell of a preview.